Frost Gem, Troop Gem Function!

[Skill cost: Consume a portion of mental power and vitality to summon a Hellfire Fireball, dealing splash damage to enemies within a 3-meter-by-3-meter area.

The fireball's maximum damage and range depend on the spirit attribute.]

[Learning requirement: 20 spirit]

"An area-of-effect spell?" Shen Xing's interest was piqued.

He had seen the lesser demon use this skill before, and it had looked tremendously powerful.

Although the attack had been interrupted before it could be unleashed, its power presumably wouldn't have been lacking.

So he clapped his hands and immediately clicked to learn it.

In an instant, the skill book gradually vanished, turning into countless green specks of light that entered the space between his brows.

Memories of controlling and condensing hellfire flashed through his mind.

A moment later, Shen Xing opened his eyes, a wisp of eerie green flame burning in his pupils.

Then he raised his right hand and extended his index finger.

"Hiss~"

A wisp of green flame ignited, swaying gently in the air.

Awesome. If I showed this off in the real world, wouldn't all the young married women swoon? Shen Xing thought cheerfully.

After admiring it for a while, he began examining the second item.

With a flash of light, a bottle of cloudy red liquid appeared in his hand.

When he picked it up, the drop of blood had automatically been placed in a specially made glass bottle. This might have been another of the game's built-in system functions.

[Lesser Demon Essence Blood]

[Quality: Purple (rare)]

[Item effect: This blood can be fused with the user or a territory troop unit, granting them part of the lesser demon bloodline.

Upon successful fusion, all attributes will increase by 30%, skill forms will change, and there is a chance of awakening new skills.]

[Note 1: Lesser Demon Essence Blood contains a violent negative force. There is a chance the user's body will burst during fusion.]

[Note 2: Upon successful fusion, the user will possess a lesser demon bloodline and will be suppressed when encountering higher-level demons.]

"Fusing bloodlines can even change skill forms." Shen Xing was somewhat surprised.

The drop of blood had an extremely powerful effect. The 30% attribute increase alone was comparable to the bonuses from three star-rank increases.

But the rewards came with risks.

Not only was there a risk of his body bursting during fusion, but even if it succeeded, he would later be suppressed by higher-level demons.

Shen Xing certainly wasn't going to use it himself.

He had seen related accounts on the forum. Players had used all sorts of strange things in the game, changing their characters' physiques.

As a result, their physiques in the real world had changed as well.

There had recently been some strange news stories. For example, a mysterious creature resembling a bat had appeared late at night in a residential complex. It would fly to the windows of women living alone at night and steal personal belongings.

There had also been a naked middle-aged man clinging to the exterior wall of a building's twenty-third floor. He had reportedly grown a gecko's tail, but unfortunately, he had fallen to his death.

Before Shen Xing had come into contact with the game, he had thought those stories were made up.

Now it seemed the damn players had done it all.

He didn't want to turn into an ugly, dark-skinned lesser demon!

But... reportedly, a group of players in the island nation had been paying high prices for something called Ancient God Mucus, making their bodies grow numerous tentacles.

Besides letting them hold more weapons, the tentacles had other uses...

Ahem, he was getting sidetracked.

So he would either let one of his territory's troops fuse with the Lesser Demon Essence Blood, sell it on the trading channel, or trade it with someone for other items.

He looked around at the orcs who were still busy working, unable to make up his mind for the moment.

In truth, Shen Xing most wanted Hellscream to fuse with the blood.

The orc was a powerful fighter who had even comprehended an entirely new skill form and method of exerting force. He had tremendous potential.

Unfortunately, as an orc, his bloodline limited his upper limit and base attributes.

Compared with that great tree knight, even if Hellscream reached level 9 and his potential rose to Boss One Star, his attributes would still fall far short.

That was the effect of bloodlines. Some members of powerful races had greater combat strength than chiefs of weaker races, even with only elite-grade potential.

If Hellscream fused with the Lesser Demon Essence Blood, it would definitely close much of the gap.

But Shen Xing was also worried that Hellscream wouldn't be able to withstand the fusion and would burst apart and die. That would be a loss not worth the gain.

After pondering for a moment, Shen Xing decided to look up relevant information on the forum later before making a decision.

"Let's keep going through the loot."

He opened his right hand, and a floating orb of light appeared out of thin air. At its center was the phantom of a hunched lesser demon.

This was one of the most important spoils from the expedition: the Lesser Demon Lair (elite ★).

Like other troop lairs, it could be used to recruit Elite One Star lesser demons in batches.

The resources required, however, were quite excessive.

A single lesser demon cost 50 Soul Stones, 50 Vinar Silver Coins, and a special material called hellfire seed.

"The cost of recruiting these things is a bit high."

"And according to the guides on the forum, hell troops like lesser demons don't eat ordinary food. They need to be fed Shattered Souls regularly."

"Otherwise, they'll become weakened after going too long without food, and their combat strength will drop drastically."

Of course, aside from those drawbacks, lesser demons were still extremely powerful troops.

They had some ability to fly, as well as abilities like Hellfire Fireball and self-destruction. Both their killing power and destructive power were terrifying.

If he could assemble a Dretch Legion, it would be equivalent to having a mobile bombing legion.

Apparently, they could later evolve into greater lesser demons, greatly increasing their combat strength.

"I'll keep this troop lair for now and see if I can get some hellfire seed later."

"Or I could check the trading section for a troop lair that's better suited to me."

Chapter 32: Frost Gem, Troop Gem Function!

Shen Xing put the Lesser Demon Lair into his backpack. That left only two blueprints and a gem to examine.

One of the blueprints was an unexpected find Hellscream had dug up in the basement of Plague Village.

[Large Beast Trap Blueprint]

[Quality: Blue]

[Effect: Can be used to craft large beast traps that deal piercing damage to enemies who step on them and cripple them.]

[Crafting requirements: Black iron ×3, Soul Stone ×1]

"This blueprint is good, and it doesn't require many materials. I can make them in batches."

Shen Xing immediately clicked to learn it.

Next, he took out the most valuable golden blueprint.

[Hero Altar Blueprint]

[Quality: Gold]

[Area occupied: 32 square meters]

[Building effect: A Hero Altar can be built within the territory to revive dead combat units.]

(Note: Only those with Boss Rank ★ potential or higher can be revived at the altar. The stronger the target, the more materials are required.)

[Construction materials required: Soul Stone ×3,000, Vinar Silver Coin ×3,000, black crystal ×1,000, mithril ×100, brilliant gem ×1]

"It really is an altar that can revive territory units."

"But this altar has restrictions too. Only troops of Boss Rank or above are eligible for revival, and it also consumes a considerable amount of materials."

For Shen Xing, who possessed the Life-Sacrifice Evolution talent, raising troops to Boss Rank wasn't difficult.

However, the materials needed to build the altar were excessive. He hadn't even heard of many of them, and there was no way he could gather them in the near future.

But that was fine. He had the blueprint, so building it later would be just the same.

Having examined both blueprints, he had only the last gem left to check.

Shen Xing opened his right hand, and with a flash of blue light, an intense chill surged out.

A moment later, a gem the size of a pigeon's egg appeared in his palm, looking as though it had been carved from pure crystal.

[Frost Gem]

[Quality: Purple (rare)]

[Effect: When placed in a troop lair, increases the ice-attribute attack power and ice-attribute resistance of all troops of the same type by 10%.]

"Huh? It's a gem that goes in a troop lair? I thought it was meant to be socketed into equipment!"

Shen Xing's heart stirred as he immediately realized the gem's value.

After all, it was a treasure that could increase the attributes of every troop of the same type!

If used on the territory's main troop type, it would be equivalent to greatly increasing their overall strength.

After checking the forum, he finally understood the game's gem system.

When a troop lair reached elite ★, it would unlock one gem socket.

When it reached chief ★, it would unlock a second gem socket, and so on.

Players could socket different gems to strengthen their troops in specific ways.

For example, Shen Xing could find Strength Gems and Rock Gems for his Orc Barracks to increase explosive power and defense.

As for Xu Jiayi's Archer Barracks, she could socket Sharpness Gems and Gale Gems to increase accuracy and firing speed.

Like equipment, gems also increased in quality from green to blue, purple, and then gold.

The higher the quality, the greater the attribute boost.